Ukraine calls on Moscow to refrain from statements “impeding stabilization”

KIEV, February 28, (ITAR-TASS). Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry has urged Russia “to pass unbiased assessments of the situation in the country and to refrain from the statements that impede the process of political and economic stabilization in the country”, an official statement published Thursday said.

“Ukrainian authorities attach significance to the Agreement on Settling the Political Crisis that was signed the by then President, Viktor Yanukovich, February 21, 2014, and opposition leaders with the official representatives of Germany, Poland and France attending,” the document said.

“In this connection, we express our disappointment with the fact the Russian representative /Vladimir Lukin - Itar-Tass/ who also attended the talks and was engaged in drafting the document refused to sign it,” the ministry said.

“We cannot rule out that this very factor became one of the causes behind the former President’s refusal to honor the accords aimed at stabilization of internal life in the stare,” the statement claimed.

‘In part, Yanukovich refused to sign a special law of the Verkhovna Rada on re-establishing the Constitution of 2004, which he was supposed to do under the terms of the agreement within 48 hours after its signing,” the ministry said. “That’s why Yanukovich bears the full brunt of responsibility for the failure to comply with the agreement.”

The Foreign Ministry recalled that “Viktor Yanukovich was dismissed by the constitutional majority of MPs in the Verkhovna Rada due to his de facto self-removal from duties at a moment crucial for the state.”

At the same time, the Verkhovna Rada that assumed political responsibility for the situation in the country is taking persistent steps envisioned by the agreement.

“In part, the parliament has already implemented a number of crucial provisions of the Agreement on Reverting to the Constitution of 2004 and appointing an early presidential election for May 25, 2014,” the statement said.

The ministry said the statement was issued in connection with a warning against “the attempts to revise the coordinated actions in Ukraine unilaterally,” which the Russian Foreign Ministry had issued earlier on Thursday.